manta ray

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English

a manta ray (Mobula birostris, syn. Manta birostris)

Etymology

From Spanish manta (“blanket”); according to Jorge Juan y Santacilia and Antonio de Ulloa, so called “for being broad and long like a quilt”.[1]

Pronunciation

Noun

manta ray (plural manta rays)

  1. Any of several very large pelagic rays formerly of the genus Manta, now placed in genus Mobula, with winglike pectoral fins, a long tail, and two fins resembling horns that project from the head.
    Synonyms: manta, sea pancake, majestic flap-flap, majestic sea flap-flap
    • 2020, Jenny Offill, Weather, Granta Books (2021), page 181:
      My favorite are the manta rays. We watch them wing past. The have the largest brain of any fish, I remember.

Translations

References

  1. ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “manta ray (n.)”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Further reading

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